Yesterday my friend and fellow music teacher Marc phoned to ask me about a piano method book he had been reading. The book recommended playing all 24 scales with one finger until each was correctly learned. Only then would the poor student begin playing scales with standard fingering.
This is a great example of misinformation and wasted effort. It might result in learning the various key signatures, but it would involve more un-learning than learning in the long run, and I would guarantee that most people would give up scales before they mastered the 24.
The best books I have ever found about playing the piano are comic books, Peter Coraggio's series published by Neil A. Kjos called "The Art of Piano Performance", illustrated by Jon J. Murakami. The books are entertaining, of course, but also technically sound, comprehensive and useful. Until you are ready for the Oxford Musical Dictionary, Peter Coraggio's "Imagery in Music" is the only music dictionary you need.
I grew up with the old John Thompson red books which began with "Teaching Little Fingers To Play" and ended with Grade Five, but in my own teaching I use multi-key methods such as those published by Alfred and Hal Leonard (as well as a lot of individually-written sheet music). The old method books are based on playing in the key of C or mostly on the white keys, which trains the hand very early on to use a curved position because of the short thumb and pinky and the longer fingers in between.
Students who have grown up with multi-key methods are not afraid of the black keys, and their hands are accustomed to the various configurations and shapes involved in playing patterns and chords. The muscles remember. Although I find many beginners play by the numbers (now don't deny it; I know you do), at least they are getting an idea of intervals and the up-and-down patterns which they do not get when playing by "letters" or staying for a couple of years in a white-note position.
I think there is value in being able to play all the five-finger patterns, whether by tablature (with the keys shown on the page), ear or note. This leads right away to a muscular knowledge of all 24 major and minor chords, and this is the basis of keyboard harmony.
